EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 61 



tlemen attended from the adjoining counties, and the premium for the 

 finest ram lamb of one year old was adjudged to a lamb bred by Lud- 

 well Lee, of Belmont, Loudoun County. This prize lamb, part Bakewell 

 and part Arlington Improved, possessed fine proportions, with a fleece 

 of good quality, close and well packed, though rather short. His gross 

 v^^eight was 161 pounds, weight of fleece, 7f pounds. The fleeces of the 

 season ran light, owing to the mildness of the preceding winter. The 

 fleeces of the Arlington prime ewes averaged 5 pounds. 



Mr. Custis inaugurated these annual sheep-shearings for the benefit 

 of his country. At an early period he became much interested in the 

 improvement of the breed of sheep. Col. Humphreys, the American 

 minister at Madrid, had recently introduced the fine-wooled Merino 

 sheep into the United States. Mr. Custis saw the great advantage that 

 his country might derive from the cultivation of fine wool, and the 

 establishment of manufactures of cloth, and in 1803 inaugurated an an- 

 nual convention for the promotion of agriculture and domestic manu- 

 facture, known throughout the country by the name of Arlington sheep- 

 shearing. These gatherings were at Arlington springs, a large fountain 

 of living water that gushed from beneath the shade of a venerable oak, 

 not far from the banks of the Potomac. There, for many years, on the 

 30th of April, the annual shearing took place. A large concourse of 

 people would assemble to participate in or witness the ceremonies. 

 Toasts were drank, speeches were made, and prizes, provided at the sole 

 expense of Mr. Custis, were distributed among those who presented the 

 best specimens of sheep or wool, and domestic manufactures. These 

 were, it is believed, the first prizes ever offered for such objects in the 

 United States. Under the great war-tent of Washington, many of the 

 noblest men of the land assembled on these festivals, when they and 

 the entire concourse were entertained in a most generous manner by 

 the host, who usually made a stirring speech appropriate to the occa- 

 sion. In one of them he said, prophetically : "America shall be great 

 and free, and minister to her own wants by the employment of her own 

 resources. The citizen of my country will proudly appear when clothed 

 in the produce of his native soil." It must be remembered that, at that 

 time, every yard of broadcloth worn in the United States was imported 

 from Europe. 



In May, 1807, four lambs of the Arlington Improved Long-Wooled breed were 

 brought to the shearing, all bred from the Bakewell prize ram of 1805. 



A one-year-old ewe, whose carcass weighed 7i pounds to the quarter, sheared 7 

 pounds of wool 9 inches in length. 



A one-year-old lamb, weighing lOi pounds to the quarter, sheared 7^ pounds of 

 fleece, wool 9 inches in length. 



A ewe lamb, one year old, whose carcass weighed 8i pounds per quarter, gave SJ 

 pounds of fleece, 8 inches in length. 



A ram lamb, one year old, whose carcass gave 11 pounds per quarter, gave 7i pounds 

 of fleece, 8 inches in length. 



